Swoon Reads Introduces Crowdsourced Publishing Model – Macmillan is taking up where HarperCollins Inkpop left off. HarperCollins launched Inkpop in 2010 and invited writers to come and share their material with others. HarperCollins acquired at least one manuscript from the writers on Inkpop. HC sold Inkpop to Figment in 2012.

For Macmillan, Swoon Reads invites writers to submit manuscripts. The community then reads, rates and comments on the submissions as well as providing input on cover design and marketing. So essentially, the readers do all the work for free and the highest rated manuscripts become books that Macmillan sells back to those readers using all the suggestions, comments, and marketing plans developed by the readers. Publishers WeeklyAs Apple Smart Watch Rumors Swirl, Pebble Gets FCC Approval – Pebble, the Bluetooth enabled watch which is designed to speak to your smartphone, has cleared the FCC which means it is one step closer to being shipped to 65,000 customers (or Kickstarter backers). But new rumors of an Apple watch have entered the tech world.
When Apple introduced the square nano, enterprising users decided it would make a great watch and a whole cottage industry of watchbands rose up. Apple’s second update introduced more watch faces, fully embracing the concept and even took to selling watchbands in the stores.
The latest iteration of the Nano was not square, but an elongated rectangle, leaving those of us who had hoped for a bluetooth enabled Nano watch disappointed. Perhaps the Nano’s resizing was to make way for an Apple watch. Who knows but I love the gossip and speculation about new products (and it is a super slow news week). AllThingsD“Potential Prostitutes” site lets users label women as prostitutes, charges “removal” fees – A new website offers the ability to upload photos and label any woman a prostitute. You can pay the site to have your photo removed. The site claims it has been sued and has never lost a lawsuit but Popehat says that this is a lie given that the site first was registered in October 2012.
Perhaps that this site can be sued for extortion much like the suit in Ohio against the use of mugshot photos. Boing Boing

Image via Big Stock PhotoCongress, at Last Minute, Drops Requirement to Obtain Warrant to Monitor Email – If you didn’t already despise Congress, here’s another reason to stick a pin in your Congress voodoo doll. In the wake of the General Petraeus’ scandal, the Senate approved an amendment which would have required law enforcement to obtain a warrant to monitor emails or other cloud stored data. For some reason, however, this amendment has been dropped from the bill that is being sent to the White House for signature.
This is the bill that allows Netflix to provide user data to social media sites. Hurrah for less privacy.AllGov

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Jane Litte is the founder of Dear Author, a lawyer, and a lover of pencil skirts. She spends her downtime reading romances and writing about them. Her TBR pile is much larger than the one shown in the picture and not as pretty.
You can reach Jane by email at jane @ dearauthor dot com

One Comment

Simply jaw-droppingly amazing about the “potential prostitutes” site. Extortion, indeed! There are so many people with no standards of decency whatsoever. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. And Congress? I’m sure they’d love to do the right thing, especially when “the right thing” is determined by who made the last contribution or lobbying visit. Thanks for the updates.

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